Rep. Adam Kinzinger at a July 28 news conference on Capitol Hill to announce plans to vote yes on the GOP proposal to raise the debt limit.

Harry Hamburg
/ AP

Originally published on November 3, 2011 6:55 pm

In the election held a year ago this week, Republicans took over control of the House with the help of nearly 90 newcomers to their ranks. Now, just a year before the 2012 contests, many of those freshman lawmakers find themselves facing tough re-election bids.

Back in January, at the start of this session of Congress, NPR profiled eight House freshmen identified as rising stars in the Republican Party. We decided to revisit some of those GOP members and see how they are faring as they prepare to defend their seats. At least five of them face significant hurdles to re-election — some as targets of the Democrats, and others as casualties of the redistricting process.